Stars And Garters

Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday Night Fights: Double M - Round 3: Dungeon Master!

In light of recent events, I've made an important decision regarding my future Friday Night Fights participation, including the current Double M bout. Well, sort of important, anyway.

For the foreseeable future, I'm still going to be posting FNF rounds, perhaps missing just the occasional week or two. However, something had to give, so I've made the following decision:

My "post-victory Legion rule", in which I follow up every victorious round with a Legion Of Super-Heroes-related entry? GONE.

That doesn't mean no more Legion entries. It just means more freedom in deciding when to post a Legion entry, and when not to.

Now, on to tonight's round, which comes to us from Legion Of Super-Heroes#288, written by Paul Levitz and beautifully illustrated by Keith Giffen and Bruce Patterson. Synopsis: Princess Projectra's evil cousin Pharoxx has usurped the throne on her home planet Orando, defeated Karate Kid, and locked them both up in a dungeon to await execution. Karate Kid decides he's not going quietly, and starts engaging in some impressive sculpting work.

OK, remember that stone dagger the Kid was sculpting?

In honor of the Kid's stone-cold awesome sculpting, tonight's fight song is this stone cold number from Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Friday Night Fights: Double M - Round 2: Iron Fist Rolls Snake Eyes!

Welcome to Round Two of Friday Night Fights: Double M. Tonight's martial arts melee comes from Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu#18 by Bill Mantlo, Pat Broderick, and Terry Austin. In the scene below, Iron Fist and the Sons of the Tiger join forces to stop Snake Eyes and his gang from stealing a valuable radioactive isotope.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Friday Night Fights: Double M - Round 1: Big Wheel Keeps on Turnin'!

In light of recent events, I thought I wouldn't be able to post an opening entry for Friday Night Fights:Double M, but then I remembered my drafts section. So I'm opting to burn through my remaining FNF drafts inventory, starting with this unfinished post I've had in the can from back during the "G7" days.

The "Big Wheel" that "keeps turning round and round" has been mentioned in a variety of 60's and 70's rock songs, from Journey's "Wheel in the Sky" to Steely Dan's "Do It Again" to tonight's featured fight song, Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary".

However, I don't think this image from Amazing Spider-Man#182, by Marv Wolfman, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito, is what they had in mind.

Meet Jackson Weele. After being blackmailed and taunted with the nickname "Big Wheel" by the Rocket Racer, Weele buys a mechanized wheel from the Tinkerer to get revenge.

And then they run into a certain Wall-Crawler.

However, here's one problem with rampaging through the city in a giant mechanized wheel:

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Hiatus-- Maybe?

You may be seeing less of me soon.

We just welcomed our first son into the world this past weekend. He's a beautiful baby boy. It's a strange and wonderful feeling I really can't describe to anyone who hasn't experienced it before. The moment I looked at him everything changed.

One of those changes, however, may be in the future in this blog. Right now, we're still getting used to the little guy's sleep cycle. Let's just say that right now, he's keeping rock star hours: energetic and often temperamental at night, sleepy and peaceful in the daytime. We're still learning the ropes and haven't reached full efficiency in things like diaper-changing. In addition, our child (I'll call him Baby NITF) was born by Cesarian section, meaning that my wife's also recovering from her operation, which leaves some of the more physical tasks, not to mention all driving, to yours truly.

What does that mean for the future of the blog? Well, frankly, I....don't know. I could have a "Friday Night Fights" entry as soon as this Friday, or I might not blog for a few weeks or months, or this could be my last blog post ever. At this point, things could go in any of those directions. I really don't know which one it will be right now.

Something like this is requires a real shift in priorities. When you're single, it's all about you. When you're married and have children, it becomes all about them. I've now got two people for whom I'd give up my life. Giving up writing a blog is small potatoes by comparison.

I'll try to keep you posted as I figure things out and get adjusted. I'll still be posting my usual smartass comments on comics, politics, and the like on Twitter. You'll know something when I do.